Kiss the Sky
by ForeverDarkly
Summary: The whole summer in La Push? I'd rather a root canal than go back home. But who am I to complain? I'm just along for the ride. It was my sister and Rachel Black's idea. I don't care, college starts in the fall. It's just one lousy summer, right? Jacob/OC
1. Summer Vacation

**Hey guys, this is my first ever Twilight story, and the first new story I've posted in just about forever too, so be easy on me. Before you guys read any further, there are a couple things that I have to explain to you. First, **_**Breaking Dawn**_** never happened. It just...yeah, no. I could barely get through the book to begin with, I think I made it to the end of Jacob's "book" so...no, BD didn't happen in this story. So there's also no Nessie or Nessie/Jake imprint (sorry about that.) But Bella and Edward do get married, Bella does become a vampire and they move away from Forks. Basically, it's as if **_**Eclipse **_**was the end, with some minor changes. I think that's just about it for all the changes/warnings. Umh...I think, the way I have it in my head, this takes place around the time Bella graduates from high school, so it's that summer. Anyways, onto the disclaimer, I only own Violet and Shelby, everything else belongs to SMeyer, Summit and whoever else that's Twilight related. I think I got everything. So....Let me know what you guys think!! --FD**

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_We can fly, kiss the sky, if we try  
We'll find the place that love goes  
We can fly stay so high, kiss the sky  
We'll find a place that love grows  
__**Kiss the Sky –**_**Motley Crue**

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**Kiss the Sky  
Chapter One – Summer Vacation**

It's been said that going back home is one of the weirdest, strangest and hardest things you'll ever have to do.

Well, to whoever said that, here's what I have to say: No Shit.

With my head pressed against the cool window on the passenger's side of Shelby's little blue Civic—ironic, a girl named after a Ford drives a Honda, I find it downright hysterical—I watched all that I had held so near and dear to me for the past decade blur past in a stupid whirl of greens, browns, grays and rain. Everything I had built up around me, everything that made me Violet from Seattle was about to come all unraveled when I became Violet, who moved from La Push to Seattle, all over again. God, I felt like I was back in the third grade.

All right, all right, so maybe I have a flare for the dramatic. I had no plans of staying up in La Push for the rest of my life, the day I stepped off the reservation when I was eight I had figured there was no need to come back; very mature for my age, I know. And sure, I had gone back the following two summers; we stopped visiting when I was ten...don't ask me, moms are weird people. In all reality, it wasn't like we were moving back there; we were just going for the summer. But three months in a 'summer cottage' that Shelby had found right near the house where we grew up was enough to make my skin crawl. I didn't have any _bad_-bad or awful memories of La Push, it was just most of them weren't the best. A lot of them involved my father walking out, slamming the door behind him and then hopping into his truck while my mother slammed a different door on the opposite end of the house, usually locking herself in her bedroom. And that left me and Shelby standing in the middle of the living room with only two options: stay put or trek across the reservation to seek out the Blacks.

How do you think Shelby became best friends with Rebecca and Rachel Black and sleepovers at their house became a weekly tradition?

And now, we were going back for the summer. Three hellish months all because Rachel Black found her _soul mate_ in that jackass Paul.  
I remembered Paul from way back when and I still spent hours wondering what happened to Rachel back at Washington State; had she dropped acid or something?  
Whatever it was, it must've been pretty good stuff. I mean, _Paul_?  
And Shelby had the nerve to say me and my friends worried her.

"I can hear you pouting over the music." Shelby said, opening her mouth for the first time since we stopped for gas right outside the Seattle city limits. And of course she could hear me pouting over the music; she had that stupid country station on again. Turning away from the window, I risked a glance over at her. She sat straight-backed in the driver's seat, the rain on the window casting weird circle shaped shadows across her copper colored skin. Shelby was all Quileute; from the color of her skin, to her blacker than black long hair—which was currently plaited in twining little twists and twirls that ran from her temple to the back where they gathered in a long thin braid—her dark brown eyes and even her nose. She looked more like our mother than I did. I looked like Robin, somewhat, the rumor was I had her cheekbones and eyebrows. But other than that, I looked like my dad. That was a rumor too, seeing as no one really remembered what he looked like anyways; he had split right before my fifth birthday.

Fun filled memories lived up in La Push for the Archer girls.

Stupid Rachel with her stupid Paul and sending stupid emails to stupid Shelby.  
Stupid summer cottages and stupid everything else.  
Just plain stupid.

"I'm not pouting, I'm just…" I stuck a hand out, looking for the right word just to prove Shelby wrong, but of course, she was right. I'd just never admit to that. Or tell her she was right.

"…Pouting."

"Shut up Shelby." I muttered, without any fight left in my voice—I probably left it in my Jeep back in Seattle—and put my head back against the window. There were still a few hours left of our drive to La Push and I was secretly waiting for the trees to thin out some and the ocean to come into view. I'd never admit that either. Hence, the use of the word _secretly_. I had always loved First Beach though, if Shelby had wanted me to jump for joy when she first mentioned this little "vacation," she should've started with that instead of cooing over some 'quaint' little cottage. News to Shelby, it looked exactly like the one we had when we lived on the reservation, just smaller. Duh…

"Jacob'll be there." Shelby said, with a slight smile as she stopped under a red light. "Rachel said he's still hanging around, tinkering with cars, taking things apart and putting them back together like he did when we were kids." She was trying way too hard to convince me to like this trip. Way, way too hard. Like I said, start with First Beach and maybe I'll like this idea. Maybe. Sure, Jacob and I had been friends, but that was years ago. Last time I had seen him, the last summer we came to visit, I was ten and he was nine with a wobbly missing-tooth-gapped smile and shaggy black hair. But we weren't kids anymore. In the eight years since I had seen the reservation last, I had grown up and graduated high school. I was eighteen now, drove a car, had several ex-boyfriends and had been accepted into an art school in California. This was supposed to be my last summer in Seattle and I had wanted to spend it in Seattle, with my Seattle friends, driving my Seattle car and having some Seattle fun before moving away from Seattle. Not up in La Push, playing with car parts and listening to Rachel gush over her _soul mate_.

"Didn't Rachel also say that Jacob liked some girl in Forks and was busy chasing after her?" I muttered, glaring up at the red light and trying to change it to green with my special spoon bending mind powers. But of course, it didn't work. I had tried them earlier, hoping I'd convince Shelby to stay put for the summer, but they didn't work then either. The spoon bending powers must've been on the fritz, damn La Push.

"She did, but obviously you hung up before she told me the rest of the story." Oh, so Shelby did know I had been on the other line. Damn, foiled again. Okay, so my magic spoon bending powers weren't real and I wasn't a good spy either. Great.

"Which is?" I asked, with an impatient wave of my hand. I hated when Shelby did that; started saying something and then left me hanging. "The rest of the story, Shelby…"

"She left; finished high school, married her high school boyfriend right after graduation and moved away with his family." Shelby said, with a shrug as she put her foot back on the gas and sped out from the under the light, leaving the red Toyota behind us. "Poor Jacob."

"Yeah, poor Jake." I muttered, digging around in the glove box for the emergency pair of sunglasses I had stashed away in there. "Who marries their high school boyfriend right out of high school? Was she pregnant or something?" Sounded pretty shot-gun to me.

"Rachel didn't say, she just said they got married and left. Jacob didn't go to the wedding." I nodded as I slid my cheap wayfarer sunglasses on my face and tucked the plastic arms behind my overly pierced ears. "I'm sure he misses you."

"Oh, me too." I mumbled, putting my head against the window. Conversation over. "Wake me when we get there."

I didn't need to watch out the window for the rest of the trip, sleeping sounded good, besides what could've changed so damn much in La Push in the last ten years anyways?

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_So, how'd I do for my first Twilight story? Let me know what you all thought, remember to hit the lil' review button on the bottom of the page!! _


	2. A Somewhat Unhappy Homecoming

**Can I say it? Please? Holy Crap guys!! THIRTEEN reviews for the first chapter alone!! DUDE! I love all of you. I know I've replied to as many of them as I can, I think I replied to everyone. So...Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!! A million times over. Holy Crap. 13...wow. lol. Okay! Moving on, here's chapter two (yes, i want you all to keep reviewing like you all did last time! keep it up!!!!!) I hope you all like it as much as the first. What else do I have to say? There's a lot of La Push in this chapter, a few of you asked about that in the reviews, so get used to it; it's only the beginning. And there's a lil' Jacob at the end, not giving away too much. What else? Oh!! Laurazuleta18 asked if I had an idea of what/who Violet looks like, so I did some searching on Google and found a really good picture; if you want to pop over to my profile there's a picture of her there. Just gotta scroll down. Lets see? Anything else? Nope. I think we're good. Ok! So, keep reading, reviewing and let me know what you all think! You know I love to hear it! Keep it up guys!! xox FD**

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_I'm on my way  
Well I'm on my way  
Home sweet home  
Tonight tonight  
I'm on my way  
Just set me free  
Home sweet home  
**Home Sweet Home -- **_**Motley Crue**

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**Kiss the Sky  
Chapter Two– A Somewhat Unhappy Homecoming**

When I had said, _"__Wake me when we get there," _I had expected Shelby to lean over and tell me, maybe even poke me a little; I had definitely not expected to get shaken so hard that I thought my brain was going to slide out my ears. Glaring at my sister from behind my dark sunglasses, I shook my head, I swear…sometimes I thought I lived with a crazy person, and then glanced out the Civic's front window. My jaw dropped, quickly followed by my stomach and my mood was shot right to hell. I knew exactly where we were and bit back a snarl; it wasn't our old house or the summer house, this was quite possibly worse than the both of them combined.

"I am not going in there." I snapped. There were reasons why I didn't like La Push that had nothing to do with my parents or moving away or whatever, and this was one of them. "Why are we here? Why'd we stop here first?" _Are you trying to kill me, _I wanted to add, but knew better than push my luck with Shelby. I wondered if Mom knew what she was getting into when she and Dad decided to have Shelby. Sometimes, people really scared me.

"He's family Vivi." Using that stupid baby-name of mine was a cop-out and Shelby knew it, way to hit below the belt. "Besides, I told him we were coming." She said as she slid out of the car.

I really hated my sister.  
First it was this stupid _vacation_—which was only hours old and already shaping up to be the worst summer of my life—and now, we were sitting outside our stupid cousin's house.  
Of course she told him we were coming, why wouldn't she? Shelby was just fine with him, totally turned a blind eye to what he had done. But me? No way. He had done more than just break my best friend's heart, he had changed her in ways I had never imagined and Shelby was cool with that.

I was still all for writing Sam Uley off our family tree.

"I still hate him!" I called after her as I slammed my door shut hard enough to shake the rearview mirror. I didn't need to slam it _that_ hard, but I was in a _fine_ mood now, so all bets were off.

Shelby ignored me and kept walking toward the front door. How she could still like Sam was beyond me, he had hurt Leah so bad, but Shelby didn't see it that way. Apparently, it was all right for our cousin to dump his long time girlfriend—who happened to still be my best friend and the only person I still talked to from La Push almost everyday—for someone else like _that_. For his girlfriend's cousin no less! It wasn't like Emily was Leah's friend from school or her job down at the little grocery store here on the res; no it was her cousin, someone she loved like a sister. Good going Sam.

Speaking of him, Sam met us on the front step, smiling broadly. He and Shelby looked so much alike it was kind of scary; they looked more like siblings than we did. It was that friggin' Uley blood and all. Our mom, Robin, and Sam's dad Joshua were brother and sister; so as long as there was a Uley up on the res, we'd be welcomed back with opened arms. Even though I wanted to kill this Uley in front of us.

"Shels!" He said, pulling Shelby into a bone-crushing hug. Was it me or had he gotten taller? And wider? My cousin was more bear-like than ever before; nearly two heads and maybe even some shoulders taller than me and god only knew how board in the shoulders he was now. Friggin' huge seemed to be a pretty accurate description. It had to be all the fresh air or something.

"Vi!" Sam smiled as he looked over toward me; I was too busy looking over his shoulder and into the house to even smile back. It looked like Emily was out for the day. I had nothing against Emily, I had met her a million times before, but still…I could never hate her, I just wasn't a fan of the whole situation. "She's not home Violet; her and Kim went food shopping, they're planning this big welcome back dinner for you guys." I didn't know who Kim was, she had to be someone's girlfriend, but I nodded along anyways. "Are you going to talk to me?"

I arched an eyebrow at him; that was a negative. And that was way more than he deserved from me.

"Violet!" Shelby scolded; really? I totally didn't need another mother.

"Can we just go to the stupid house and unpack? I'm tired." I really wasn't, but going to see the house and all was a lot better than standing outside Sam's place.

"She's right Shels; you should unpack and get settled in. Why don't we head to the house? I can call the guys over and have them help you unload the car. And I'm sure if I call Jacob, Rachel will come over. She's been dying to see you." Sam said, playing peacemaker. Odd, that hadn't changed much since we were kids. But that didn't mean I was going to be nice to him now since he was still the same Sam I remembered from when we were younger. If anything, it made me angrier.

Shelby nodded and headed back to the car, while Sam and I lingered behind for a second. I could tell by the way she set her shoulders, Shelby was pissed off at me, but it wasn't the first time and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Looking over at my abnormally huge cousin, I just stared for a second before shaking my head and following after my sister. I had nothing to say to Sam, I would always take Leah's side, family or not. It took me a minute, but I slid back into the car and dropped rather ungracefully down into my seat. The inside of the car felt about thirty degrees colder than outside, if there was one thing Shelby got from our dad that I hadn't, she got his uncanny ability to give a cold-shoulder like no one's business.

"Are we going to the house or what?" I asked, watching as Sam got into his truck and headed out of the driveway, apparently thinking he was leading the way; not that Shelby was just sitting there stewing. "I'd hate for Rachel to get there and we're still here."

"Did you have to do that to him? Treat him that way?" She demanded, her knuckles going white around the steering wheel and kept her gaze locked on something outside the car. "Was that really necessary Violet?"

"Was it really necessary for him to forget Leah ever existed and start going out with Emily? To be engaged to Emily now?" I countered, leaning my elbow on the window and looked over at her; she looked so much like Robin right there it was downright freaky. And for all intents and purposes, Shelby was my mother and she knew damn well how to act like it; it wasn't like Robin was around anyways to be a mom to me. Shelby had been doing her job since I was thirteen.

In the driver's seat, Shelby finally unclenched her fingers, giving up the death grip she had on the steering wheel and instead, she slumped back against the chair and ran her fingers through her hair. She was changing back into my older and wiser big sister, gone was Mom-Shelby. Good, I didn't like her too much anyways.

"One day Vivi, you'll understand why Sam did what he did. You just don't get it yet." What the hell was that supposed to mean? I understood why Sam did what he did; he was a dumbass, plain and simple.

"In case you forgot, I'm eighteen; I understand guys pretty well and just because he's our cousin, doesn't mean a damn thing. So don't treat me like I'm five, okay?" I practically growled at her. I was not a child and I hated when she got that way with me.

"It has nothing to do with him being a guy, you just don't understand yet. But you will, I promise Vivi." Something heavy and pretty solid sunk to the bottom of my stomach at the end of her sentence, why did I have a feeling she wasn't telling me something? I didn't have time to ask her about it, seeing as she finally put her little blue Honda into reserve and backed out of Sam's driveway, a minute later we were heading back toward the main part of the reservation. I didn't like not knowing things and this definitely fell under 'not knowing'. So now, I had two options: question the hell out of her in the car or wait. Well, from the look on her face, waiting seemed pretty good. I just wanted to know why I wasn't in the damn loop.

Shels and I didn't talk on the way to the house, following way behind Sam's truck, so I took advantage of the 'quiet-time' and put it to good use, looking out the window. Just like I thought, the res hadn't changed one bit. Small wooden but yet warm and inviting looking houses still sprung up around us, some set further back in the trees while other were closer to the main road. Trails branched off here and there, some taking you deeper into the woods while others took you toward Forks and the rest down toward First Beach. I remembered the small "secret" trial behind our old house that would spit you out right at the beach, I had found it when I was five and thought I was the coolest thing around. Our old house was one of the ones set back in the trees more and was a lot closer to the beach than most of the others; my mom wanted to live near the beach and dad gave her what she wanted. When Shelby drove past the narrow turn off that would've taken us down to the old house, I gave a shudder and turned away from the window; that was enough looking for me.

We got to the summer house a few minutes later, good because if had taken any longer I would've screamed, and a lump formed in my throat. It looked almost like our old house; a small two story brown _square_ with narrow windows and a tiny porch that wrapped around the front with three steps that led down to the walk-way connected to the gravel driveway. Jesus, this was going to be a long summer. Sam pulled his truck off to the side, so Shelby could park the Civic in the driveway…how nice…and then in the rear view mirror, I saw another car put up along side Sam's. And then another.

Awesome, now it was a party.

I didn't jump to get out of the car, I just sat there for a minute, watching. Sam got out of his truck first, and then three guys who could've been Sam's younger brothers piled out of the car…that couldn't be Quil, Embry and Jacob? Could it? I was tempted to scrub at my eyes until everything came into focus. But then the other truck's passenger's side door popped open and out slipped Rachel Black; no one else could make short hair look that good. Paul followed behind her, watching her like a hawk. Shelby was up and out of the Civic before I could even blink and out the back window, I saw her meet Rachel half way, before throwing her arms around her. Well, at least someone was having a good time.

Rolling my eyes, I leaned across my seat, the center consol and Shelby's so I could pop the trunk. Feeling along the floor, my fingers caught the lever for the trunk and a second later, I heard it open. Well, it Shelby was going to sit and chit-chat, I'd empty the car…well, at least empty out all my stuff. Shelby could carry her own crap in. I slid out of the car virtually unnoticed and slipped to the back, where the trunk was just waiting to be emptied. Good, gave me something to do while Shelby gushed and cooed over there with Rachel, Paul and Sam. Okay, so the plan was this: get my crap out—which consisted of one big red duffle bag, a smaller black one, a beach/tote bag thing and my leather satchel—and unpacked before my darling sister even knew what hit her. This way, while she was busy putting her stuff away, I'd be free to slip off and do whatever I wanted. Ya know…expect go back to Seattle, which I really, really wanted to do.

But no…now we were stuck here.

A hand, a shade or two darker than my own and about twenty times warmer, shot out from nowhere and closed around my red bag's strap. The hand wrapped around mine, I stood there watching as everything from my wrist to my turquoise painted nails disappeared within the warm fist, and slowly helped me lift the bag from the trunk. Risking a glance up at the owner of the hand, he was literally almost towering over me—and I was pretty tall, too—I found a slightly familiar face staring down at me. His tanned face wasn't as full as Sam's or Paul's, it was thinner and sharper and he had this goofy grin playing on his lips.

"Embry?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't come out as a squeak as that stupid grin of his split into the widest smile I had ever seen.

"Pay up!" He shouted over his shoulder, at whoever was behind him. "I told you guys she'd remember me! You just made me twenty bucks Violet!" Embry gushed, leaning down to press a kiss on my cheek. I still had no idea what to say; if this huge lanky mountain of a guy was Embry, the shorter of the three had to be Quil and then the taller one, even taller than Sam, was Jacob. Well, at least that hadn't changed, the three of them were still hanging around together. And I had been right before, they were the three who had driven over together.

"Wait…" I began, as I slid my hand out from under Embry's, and looked over them. "…you guys bet on me remembering you or not?" I asked, trying to make it all make sense.

"Pretty much." Quil said shrugging. "It's been forever since we last saw you, so we figured…why not make it interesting." Yup, they were still the stupid boys I had grown up with; it didn't matter how tall they had gotten or how much muscle they had put on, they were still stupid teenage boys.

"And now you and Jake owe Embry twenty bucks." I said, resting my hip against the Civic's taillight. "Besides, I'd never forget you guys."

"Yeah, yeah…sure, sure." Jacob muttered, rolling his eyes with a slight smirk on his face as he swerved around Embry and pulled the smaller black duffle bag and my big tote bag out of the trunk. I arched an eyebrow, the bags were pretty heavy, I had basically packed my life in there and Jacob was carrying them in one hand. Interesting. He must've felt my eyes on him or something because he turned around and winked at me. He winked at me. The boy who used to push me in mud puddles and throw sand in my hair winked at me. Okay, so that wasn't right. Not at all. Very, very weird.

This was going to be a very long summer.

While Jacob and Embry squabbled over who was taking which bag into the house and Quil just stood there watching, I looked over my shoulder to where Shelby was standing with Sam, Rachel and Paul. It was like watching the 'grown-ups' talking, like I wasn't allowed over there. I hated that kiddie-table crap. If she didn't want to include me that was fine, just don't stand there in the middle of the lawn.

"Hey! Emily and Kim are here!" Embry shouted a few minutes later, snapping up from what he was doing and looked over at the hunter green Jeep that pulled in behind what I assumed was Jacob's car.

"Food's here!" Quil added. That was right, the big welcome home dinner Sam had mentioned earlier. In a flash, Embry and Quil were over at the Jeep, helping them unload all the groceries that had been piled into the backseat. Across the grass, I caught a glimpse of Sam shaking his head at them before making my way back over our car and grabbing my tote bag and leather satchel; it looked like Jake could handle the two duffle bags.

"It looks like they abandoned you, huh?" I teased, trying not to laugh too much at him.

"Guess food is more important than luggage, huh?" He didn't wink at me again did he? Please, no more winking. Once was enough.

"Seems to be." I muttered, as we started up the narrow, stone paved walkway. It was crazy how alike this place was to our old house. Shelby couldn't have found a different one, could she? It was getting kind of creepy, to be honest.

"So, you're here for the whole summer?" Jacob asked as we got to the front door, he set my bags down on either side of the door and watched as I fished the spare keys out of the small mail box mounted on the clapboard wooden siding. I found the little brass keys at the bottom and yanked them out, jingling them in front of his face before jamming them into the door. It swung open and I peered inside; it looked all right…I guess.

"Yeah, I think we're going back two weeks before college starts though."

"Good, I missed…we've all missed you guys around here."

Yes, I caught his slip and felt my stomach clench, as he picked the bags up again and headed inside. Like I said, this was going to be a very, very, very long summer.  
Lovely


	3. Of Minds and Hearts

**Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! I promised some of you that it would be up either Monday or Tuesday and it's Tuesday...so...I didn't break any promises. For some odd reason, this chapter was a little harder to figure out than most, but still...I like it. lol. And it is longer! 7 pages in Word this time, we're getting there europ92; I'm trying really hard to make them longer. Anyways, still speaking of this chapter, it's mainly told from Jake's pov, so a little different, there's some Violet toward the end. But that's all you get, you have to read it. No more spoiling. And umh...hi! 25 reviews! Guys keep 'em coming! I love them all. I hope I replied to everyone, if not, I'll catch you all this time around. What else? Oh! Let me know how Jacob sounds to you guys, I've never written him before so...let me know what you think. Ok! That's it! Hope you all like this chapter and keep reading and reviewing!! --FD**

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_Ooh, she's a little runaway  
Daddy's girl learned fast  
Now she wants a night away_  
_**Runaway –**_** Bon Jovi**

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**Chapter Three – Of Minds and Hearts  
****Jacob's POV**

The big dinner party/welcome home thing Kim and Emily had put together for Violet and Shelby went off without a hitch. Everyone seemed happy to have the Archer girls back on the res, even if it was just for the summer—which Violet kept reminding everyone any chance she got. Sam got to see his cousins and Rachel had her best friend. It was all good. As for Violet, it was a whole different story. Sure, she was thrilled to see Leah and the other way 'round, of course—I even saw Leah crack a _real_ smile during dinner—but that was about as far as it went. She ignored Sam completely, pretended to laugh at all of Embry's jokes, even the really crappy ones, and half listened as Seth rambled on about something in her ear. It was like she was only half here with us.

And what really sucked was that I wanted her to want to be here.

"Violet? Where are you going?!" Shelby's voice echoed into the living room from the kitchen and then a second later, I heard the back door slam shut. Quil and Embry looked at each other over on the couch while Sam shook his head in the arm chair. Jared and Paul were sitting on the floor with Seth, Collin and Brady, fighting over a DVD to put in. And I just sat there, on the arm of the couch next to Quil, wondering what was going on. None of us had been paying any attention to what the girls were saying in the kitchen. After dinner, we all came into the living room while the girls—Rachel, Kim, Leah, Emily, Shelby and Violet—stayed sitting around the dining room table, talking, catching up and all that other girl crap. Sliding off the couch's arm, I was about to head into the kitchen, just to see what had happened, when someone grabbed me and pulled me back by my elbow: Sam.

"Can we talk outside Jacob?" I knew from the tone of his voice and the cold gleam in his eyes that there was no way out of this, so I nodded and followed him out onto the front porch. It was still warm out and the stars shone brightly overhead, the perfect night for a run. Or even patrol, I'd take patrol.

"What's up Sam?" I asked, leaning back against the railing, trying to look as casual as possible, as he closed the door behind us. It didn't really matter, open or closed, the guys could hear us anyways.

"I should be asking you that, what you are doing." He stared right into me and I had a feeling that this had nothing to do with wanting to go out for a run.

"What do you mean? I haven't done anything." I kept my voice level, trying to not to do something that would piss him off. Sam could be downright nasty if he wanted to.

"With Violet." Oh, so that's what this was all about." I saw you watching her; you've been doing it since we all sat down to eat." Nope, he was wrong. I had been staring at her since I caught her looking at us in the rearview mirror of Shelby's car out in the driveway earlier. Not that that sounded creepy or anything, no never. Violet would understand. Oh yeah, completely. Cough-stalker-cough.

"Jacob…" Sam was already mad, awesome.

"What? I can't help it!" _Keep your voice down Jake, keep calm, _I told myself, that little voice in the back of my head screaming so loud my ears were ringing. "I tried, but I can't. Trust me, Sam, I tried." And I had, really hard. But I kept looking at her, as if she was like the most amazing thing I had ever laid eyes on. And she was amazing, don't get me wrong, but she was _Violet_ too.

"You don't think you've imprinted on her, do you?" Was he serious? No, scratch that, he was Sam, he was always serious. Had I imprinted on her? I would know, wouldn't I? I would've felt something, right? A big something, right? No, it was impossible, wasn't it? Yeah, it had to be. Me and Violet? No way. That wasn't right. It was me and Violet. Imprinted? On Violet?

Crap.

"I think I might have to talk to Violet." I muttered. Sam slammed his fist into the railing.

"Shelby is going to be furious." Okay, now I was really confused. If I had imprinted on Violet—which I was still wasn't a hundred percent sure of—what the hell did Shelby have to do with any of this?

"Why is Shelby going to be upset?"

"She didn't want this to happen, to either of them but especially to Vivi. She doesn't want her to end up like Robin." Huh, I had almost most forgotten about Robin.

Shelby and Violet's mom had grown up on the res, their dad David had been one of us and good friends with Sam's dad Joshua, who was also Robin's older brother. David had imprinted on Robin, but when the girls were little—a few years before they moved away, actually—David had split. Just up and left. No one had seen him since, Violet had been like five or six at the time. The tribe elders had given up on David; they stopped looking for him and figured he was dead. We all did and that was the story.

"Violet isn't gonna end up like that." I rolled my eyes; for that to happen, Violet would have to actually be like her mother and I knew from experience that she was nothing like Robin to begin with.

"She better not, besides I think she'd kill you first." Sam laughed softly, as if he was proud of her. And he was, he loved Shelby and Violet like sisters and in a way, they were his younger sisters. Before they moved, the three of them had been almost inseparable.

"Where did she go anyways?" I asked, looking out into the darkness that had settled around the res.

"Probably took off for the Beach, you know Violet." I nodded, that had to be where she went. "But I'd still ask Shelby first." I pushed off the railing and went to reach for the door when Sam stopped me, again. "Before you do anything Jacob, you figure yourself out. Then talk to her." Duh…did he think I was stupid or something?

"I know." I said and then finally let myself back into the house. I'd have to talk to someone about this imprinting garbage before I said anything to Violet, maybe Jared. I wasn't going to go to Sam, Violet was his cousin and Paul? You could forget about it. He imprinted on my sister, having him hang around my house was more than enough; eating my food was one thing, how he feels about my sister is another. I might be sick.

I sailed through the living room and into the kitchen, and just as I was about to open my mouth to ask where Violet went, Leah looked up. God, did she give me the dirtiest look. In fact, she kind of looked disgusted with me. What now? God…

"What?"

"Not you too." She groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. Had she heard me and Sam talking?

"What are you talking about? All I was going to do was ask where Violet went." Leah's eyes went wide, wider than I had ever seen them before. She knew something. Shelby looked away from the screen door that Violet must've stormed out of and glanced at Rachel, who was watching Leah's face intently, along with Kim and Emily. How come I felt like I had just stepped on a hornets nest? I was in for something.

"You did!" Leah nearly shouted. "You imprinted on her!"

Forget hornets, I had just stumbled into a viper's pit.

The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant: Rachel was beaming, Emily just gave me a little smile that mirrored the one that was already tugging at the corners of Kim's lips and Shelby looked like she was about to pass out or puke. Or both.

Awesome.

"Will you stop yelling?" I growled at her, Leah looked angrier than usual. "And no, I didn't imprint her. At least, I don't think I did." Did I? Here we go again…I was still really confused. Rachel was still smiling at me like that; it was kind of creepy, as she pushed her chair back and came over to me, patting me on the shoulder.

"It's all right little brother, we'll figure it out." She practically cooed. Yeah, really creepy now. Rachel looked away from me and stared over at Shelby, who still looked pretty close to having a major heart attack. "Shels, what's wrong? We always knew that this might happen. Relax, we'll be family now." Rachel just wanted another sister; that was it. More, so there'd be more than two girls in our family; if she could add Shelby and Violet to the mix, her and Rebecca would be unstoppable. Great. More girls.

"Shels, Rach is right, Sam and Jared were talking about this weeks ago. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen." Kim added, ignoring the icy glare she got from Leah. Weeks ago? Where had I been when this meeting happened? Weeks!

"It's not that." Shelby finally said and she sounded like she was about to cry. I wanted to be long gone before the water works started. "It's that Violet has no idea what's going on, she doesn't know about any of this. I know because Mom told me about her and Dad forever ago and then I asked Sam about it when we were younger. Violet doesn't know, she just thinks all the legends are just stories, she doesn't know that they're true."

"Well, if the idiot-child over here did imprint on her, she'll learn. Real fast." Leah snapped, before surging up to her feet and pushing her way out of the kitchen. She nearly plowed through me.

Again, awesome.

"So umh…" I was going to try again and this time, hopefully I'd get an answer. "…does anyone know where Violet could've gone?"

"Oh sorry Jake…she probably went down to the Beach." Shelby said, wiping what could've been a stray tear from the corner of her eye. Gotta go! That was my cue. I nodded a quick thanks and bolted before Shelby really started crying. Nope. Didn't want to see that.

Making my way down to First Beach—which would've been a lot easier and quicker on four legs instead of two…just sayin'—I thought about the whole imprint thing. And me and Violet. It didn't feel wrong, thinking about me and her, but still…she was Violet. I had grown up with Violet, her mom had been like another mom to me, always including me in everything the girls did; from baking cookies at Christmas to making sandcastles down at the beach. And if what Shelby had said was true, it had to be true, Violet had no idea what was going on around her. She was going to flip. And Violet could flip out and get angry with the best of them, I could remember when her mom told her that her dad was never coming back. Boy, could that little girl make a scene. She had only been about five back when that happened; she was eighteen now, so god only knew what I was in for if she lost it.

Anyways, imprinting aside, finding Violet wasn't that hard. As I came through the tree line that surrounded the far edge of the beach, I saw her. Well, it was easy when to find one girl when there was no one else around. And it was even easier when that girl was holding a little Bic lighter out in front of her like a flashlight, trying to find her way around. She looked kind of ridiculous, picking her way around small puddles of rain water that hadn't seeped down into the sand yet and trying not to trip over a stick or two. She finally stopped when she came to our bonfire pit, the one with all the logs arranged around it so we could sit there and hang out. Good, she had finally stopped; finally deciding on one place, sitting on the end of on of the weather worn logs. Finally, she stopped so now I could go talk to her.

Talking, just talking. No imprinting. I valued my life.

* * *

**Violet's POV**

First Beach wasn't _exactly_ where I had planned on going when I flew out of the house, I just kind of _went_ and would ya look at that, I wound up at the beach. Coming down onto the sand, which was damp and still had puddles basically floating on top of it from all the rain—Rachel told us that it poured for nearly a week straight, good thing it happened before we got here—I headed over to where the bonfires usually took place. The pit hadn't changed; sure some of the logs that were used as seats were newer than others, but other than that, it was like stepping into a childhood memory. I could remember sitting around the fire as a kid with Shelby and Mom listening to Billy Black tell us ghost stories on Saturday nights, and Quil, Embry and Jacob trying to scare me to death.

The cool ocean air wrapped around me, whipped through my hair and blew it backwards, as I leaned my elbows on my knees and flicked my cheap little Bic lighter on and off in between my fingers, watching the flame burn bright orange against the darkness. It was all I had in my pockets, my cell phone, wallet and all that, even my favorite tube of Chap Stick, were back in my messenger bag in the house, hanging off the wooden kitchen chair I had been sitting in. Yes, I had run out. Yeah, I knew Shelby was probably pissed. No, I didn't care. She was the reason I stormed out anyways, so she had no one to blame but herself.

Sometimes I wondered if Shelby's head was screwed on right. She had been sitting there, a seat over from me, talking about Dad. Why the hell did she still care? The man split how long ago? Thirteen years now? So was there any goddamn reason for Shelby to be sitting there, rehashing facts about him with Rachel? No. He left us, so what was the point? David Archer wanted nothing to do with us and I wanted nothing to do with him. Who the hell cared anymore?

Growling in frustration, I slammed my fist down onto the log under me, my skin catching the last little bit of bark still on it and damn, did it sting. Could I go home now? This was getting worse and worse by the second and we had only been back a few hours. I already missed all my friends. I was supposed to be with Blake today, for her annual first day of summer party. Okay, it wasn't really a party, it was actually just the two of us hanging around down in the marina on her uncle's boat, but it was tradition and that's where I should've been, not here sitting in front of a burnt out bonfire pit.

I flicked my lighter again, watching the orange flicker in the breeze and listened to the waves crashing behind me and the footsteps coming down the beach.

Rachel and Shelby had sent out the troops.

"Ya know, we have the stuff to make a real fire, you could put that away." Looking up at the owner of the voice, I arched an eyebrow as I set the lighter down next to my thigh. "You know…the lighter…umh…make a bonfire."

"I got it Jake." I said, biting my bottom in hopes that he wouldn't see my smiling and trying my hardest not to laugh at him for stumbling over himself. "I was just messing with you. Did our sisters send you out here to come bring me home?"

"I volunteered, to be honest." I watched out of the corner of my eye as Jacob sat down next to me. Was there really something with all this good ol' country air and clean livin' or something? The boys up here were huge. My dad had grown up on the res too—not that I liked to remember him, mind you—and he had never been as tall or wide as these guys. I was kinda frightened, what if it was like Mercury in the tap-water or something? I wasn't going to risk my health. The last thing I needed was to wake up one morning and be six feet tall. God forbid and I actually shuddered.

"You volunteered? Interesting."

"Interesting?" He echoed and I nodded. "Huh…okay…so why did you run out like that?"

"Shelby and I had a umh…_disagreement._"

"About what?" I arched an eyebrow at him again, he wanted to know? Why? Shelby and I fought all the time, he was probably going to hear and even see a few more of our infamous screaming matches during this little vacation. "What? I'm interested. You even said I was interesting."

"That you are…" I muttered softly, pushing my fingers through my long hair. "It was about my dad." He nodded, as if he wanted me to keep going. I swear, there was something really weird with these boys up here. "All right, let me put it to you this way, what do you know about love?" Jake looked like he had licked a lemon, been punched in the stomach, gotten an F on a test and saw a really big nasty spider all at the same time. This time, I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

"I…umh…love? Really Vee?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck and even in the darkness, I swear I could see him blushing. And he called me Vee! It really had been a long time since I had heard that, a really long time. Jacob was the one who started calling me Vee, God bless my mother for naming me the one word Jacob the Mini-Motor-Mouth couldn't say when we were little. So, Violet got shortened down to Vee. And it stuck. No one in Seattle ever called me that.

"Yes, love, really Jake. I mean real love, not like a silly little crush, not like whatever it was you felt for Charlie Swan's daughter." His eyes went wide for a second and I rolled mine back at him. "Your sister has a big mouth and likes to talk to my sister, who also has a big mouth and loves to talk. Anyways, back to what I was saying. Love. Like insanely, out of your mind in love. Do anything, go ga-ga love."

"Okay…"

"Well, that's how Shelby feels about our dad. Not in some gross way, but in this overly romanticized way. She's like living in this dream world, where he'll come back and make everything all right and we'll be a family again. That's what she was talking about with Rachel back in the kitchen and it annoys the hell out of me. She's twenty-three and still waiting for him to come walking through the front door and be like nothing happened. I hate it." I snapped, toying with the heavy silver bracelet I wore on my left wrist. Jacob just looked at me for a long second before draping an arm over my shoulder; out of habit, I flinched and then, Jake did too.

"Sorry." He mumbled and went to move, before I stopped him.

"Don't be, just warn me next time all right. I'm not big on surprises. And umh…thanks for listening to that little rant. Shels doesn't like hearing it."

"You're welcome. So what do you know about love, Vee?" I laughed this time at him, right in his face, before shaking my head. I couldn't believe that he was actually asking me that. Yes, I deserved it since I asked him, but still…he was _Jake_ after all.

"I know that my last boyfriend was a jerk." I said shrugging and reached for my lighter again, fiddling with it. I could've said more, especially after what Rachel had told me privately before dinner about Bella Swan. I actually had a lot to say about her, but I chose not to. That was another discussion for another time. I'd keep my mouth shut for now, there was no need to start a fight.

Hearing someone clear their throat, I looked up and saw Leah standing on the other side of the fire pit. Now, the Calvary had really arrived.

"Shelby sent you to come get me." I said, rather than asking. I already knew the answer anyways.

"Yeah, she did. Something about finishing your bedroom or whatever." Oh yeah, that. More unpacking, yay!

"We still have to move my dresser around and set-up the bed; Rachel said Paul was gonna help." Next to me, Jacob made a face. I guess the thought of Paul and his sister still wasn't going over too big. I understood, I hated Shelby with her boyfriend; at least Cody didn't live a few houses away, he lived in an apartment in downtown Seattle while we were more on the outskirts. Leah looked at me and then back the way she came, yeah, yeah. I was getting up. Give me a second. Surging to my feet, I padded across the sand and stood next to Leah, looking back over at Jake.

"I'll be there soon, you can tell Rachel I'll meet her at home." With Jake's message tucked neatly away in the back of my head, Leah tugged me by my wrist and started off the beach, with me lagging a step or two behind. Damn her and her long legs. Great, Home. Now all I had to do was keep Shelby from losing it on me in front of everyone. Happy Vacation.

* * *

**Jake's POV**

"…_what do you know about love?"_

It kept playing over and over again in my head, in one constant loop.  
It was actually starting to make me dizzy and possibly a little sick to my stomach.

But to be honest, all I really knew at that moment was that I was in deep crap.

_Love._


	4. Life's a Beach

**Hey guys. Sorry this took sooooo long; school ended, there were finals and papers and then the holidays...which I hope everyone had a good one. Anyways, excuses aside, here's the new chapter. It took just as long to write, but here we are. I don't want to give anything away, but for the next chapter, more of Jake's point of view? Yes? No? I figure I'll let you guys decide, see what you all think. I think that's all I got for right now. So! Read the new chapter and let me know what you think!! Keep reviewing too! I love them all! -S**

* * *

_And the boys are all bangin' on cheap guitars  
And the girls are all rockin' their bikini tops  
And that big ball's way up in the sky  
My baby says "Hey I think I wanna get wet"  
So we hots and hop into the waters' edge  
Hey, it's so good to be alive  
Swimmin' in sunshine  
Swimmin' in sunshine_

_**Swimmin' in Sunshine**_** – Billy Currington**

* * *

**Kiss the Sky  
****Chapter Four – Life's a Beach**

The next morning; once all the 'Oh Vivi, we're so glad you're home!' finally stopped—even though I knew once I walked out of the house, it would start back up all over again—I padded down from my room and blindly stumbled into the kitchen. Shelby was at the stove, playing with a frying pan filled with looked like eggs…maybe, they did look kind of yellow and fluffy…and Leah was sitting at the kitchen table. I didn't remember inviting her over for breakfast; that was something I'd definitely remember. And Shelby hadn't invited her, she was about as much of a morning person as I was and seeing as breakfast was being made at a little after ten on a Saturday morning, Shelby loved her sleep. My sister was not one of those people who were up at the ass crack of dawn and I was very thankful for that. If the morning officially started around noon, Shelby and I would be fine. So that meant Leah must've invited herself. Did people around here have no love of privacy? Were there no rules in the mornings? I had rules; three very important ones and Leah was breaking them all.

One: Don't talk to me until I've had my first cup of coffee.

Two: Don't bother me or expect me to be nice to you till somewhere around noon.

Three: On the weekends, especially, don't just pop up in my house. I'll come to you…eventually.

"You're up." Leah stated, keeping it short and sweet and to the point, as she watched me grab one of the glasses of orange juice off the counter. Not coffee, but it would do in a pinch. I nodded back at her, making some kind of weird grunting sound. It was appropriate; I wasn't growling and no one had gotten hurt. An improvement on my part to be honest; Shelby's boyfriend Aaron knew all about catching me at the wrong time in the morning. I did enjoy throwing coffee cups at him though, we have a strange relationship.

"Violet be nice to Leah; she came to see you, she's been waiting for you to get up." Shelby clucked her tongue at me from the stove. Have I mentioned how much I hate my older sister yet? Well, I do. With a passion.

"What's up Leah?" I asked, plopping down across from her, my hands wrapped around my glass of juice. It was cool beneath my skin and the chill alone was starting to wake me up. And see, I was being nice. No snarling, no bearing of teeth, nothing. Not even an evil glare—I was too tired to even attempt one to be honest.

"Jacob wanted me to ask if you wanted to come hang out with down at the beach." I arched an eyebrow: she was asking me to come hang out with everyone for Jake? I was a little lost. Okay, extra lost…seeing as I was still half in the bag.

"Why couldn't he just ask me himself?" Leah made some really disgusted noise and then glared me. It was the glare she reserved for Sam. Hey! Now that wasn't very nice. We had agreed a long time ago that Sam was the only one who got those looks…and maybe Shelby, when she wasn't looking. "What's that face for Lee?" I asked, sounding a little hurt and I had every right to. What the hell was that for?

"If you want to see him so bad, I'm sure you can catch him. He might still be at his house." She snapped at me, pushing herself away from the table. Double what the hell?

"Leah, don't leave. I'm just confused; if Jake wants me to hang out with you guys today, why didn't he ask me himself? He could've come over too, ya know." It made perfect sense to me; Jake wanted me to hang out, he could come ask me. No big deal. Why was she getting so pissed?

"I can't do this; not another one. It's happening to you now too, isn't it?" I just stared up at her, confused way beyond my pay-grade. What had I missed now? It was too early for this crap. "You want to hang out with Jake, be my guest. See if I care. I did my job, I asked you for him. Whatever. Do what you want!" Leah shouted, surging up to her feet and nearly took the table with her. I heard Shelby spin around behind me, to get a better look at what was going on. Maybe for once having my older sister in the room would help.

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about Lee, but calm down! You're getting worked up over nothing! It's just the damn beach!" I shouted back; if Leah wanted a fight, she'd get one. I wasn't afraid to yell at her.

"Don't you come to me when this all blows up in your face!" Leah hissed at me, her eyes narrowing into slits. It was my turn to stand up and when I did, I slapped both palms down on the table top and leaned across it, getting in her face.

"I really have no idea what's going on, but at this point…you can take whatever crawled up your ass and get out of my kitchen!" She was laughing at me, right in my face. Okay, seriously, what the hell?! "What's so damn funny?!"

"You're exactly right; you have no idea what's going on! And you never will. No one wants to tell Precious Violet what's going, what's going on around her. Keep the little girl ignorant! It's safer that way." Best friends since before we could walk or not, I was ready to smash Leah's teeth down her throat and I had the makings of a fist all ready to go.

"Leah, calm down! Violet, sit back down!" Shelby shouted, coming between us on the other side of the table, wielding her stupid slotted spoon like a weapon. And it could be, if my sister really wanted it to be one. Leah took a deep breath while I fell back down into the chair. "Violet's right, there's no reason to be all upset over this; it's stupid. Vivi, just relax." Shelby looked at me and then back over to Leah, who was getting ready to leave.

"I'll tell Jacob you'll be down later. Sorry Shelby." She said through a clenched jaw and then practically ran out of the house. Okay, now that was one hell of a way to start a morning. I sat back against the chair, feeling the wooden frame bite into my spine, and stared at the door. I repeat for the…well, I lost count…what the hell was that? I looked up at Shelby, who was standing next to me with one arm wrapped around her chest and had her other hand pressed against her lips, which were already drawn into a tighter than tight line. Last time I saw Shelby like that, she was coming to pick me up from the principal's office after a rather 'heated' discussion with a girl on the cheerleading squad back in my junior year of high school.

"What was she talking about? It being safer, safer than what Shelby?" I asked once some of the tension in the air floated out the semi opened window over the sink. What the hell was going on and why was I so damn far out of the loop? I deserved to know something. I was an adult for Christ sake's. This was why I wanted to go home; I wasn't included in whatever the hell was going on around me. My stomach churned; I hated thinking that Leah was right, that I was being left out for some stupid reason.

"It's nothing Violet, Leah was just angry, that's all." Shelby said, turning back to the shove, shaking her head as she went. Wow, way to treat me like I was five. This wasn't some stupid high school fight, Becky Marshall wasn't stealing my boyfriend all over again; this was real life. Standing back up, I made sure the legs of my chair squealed loudly as I pushed it back, I left my juice on the table and turned toward the stairs.

"Whatever Shels. I'm going to take a shower. And maybe drown; this place is severely fucked up."

And I meant it; this place…it did things to you. Changed you. Messed with your head.

And most of all, it brought back old memories and feelings I didn't want to remember or feel ever again.

Goddammit.

I listened to Shelby grumble and complain about my "language" on the way upstairs. My sister could swear like a drunken sailor on shore leave when she wanted to, but god forbid I did it. Anyways, once upstairs, I ducked into the bathroom and locked the door—I have a thing with privacy; I love it—before turning the shower on as hot as it would go. I was planning on being in here for awhile.

I just stood there, under the steady, nearly scalding spray of water, and I let my mind wander. Past the shower curtain with little daisies on it, outside the brown _square_ that was too much like the old house, through the woods, down past the beach, into Forks and all the way back to Seattle and hell, even further than that. I just _went_. But no matter how far I _went_, there was always crap there in my way. There was Shelby, there was _always_ Shelby and since we were back in La Push—oh happy day!—there were Robin and David…oh…I mean Mom and Dad. It had been awhile since I thought about the both of them, together, _together_. They had been good in the beginning, when Shels and I were really little, but as we got older, they got worse. Not bad, but not them. Dad worked down in Forks, he had been a police officer down there oddly enough; so after awhile he started staying down at the station more and more, while Mom kept to herself, locked away in their bedroom, grading tests, essays, and all that other crap she got back from her seventh grade history classes; Mom taught up on the res. And when we moved to Seattle, she kept teaching until…well, never mind…back to Dad. Dad, one night instead of going to get a bite to eat with Charlie Swan after their shift like he usually did, came straight home and that was when World War III began. He left that night; I watched from the Black's living room window as he peeled out of our narrow well packed dirt driveway. Three days later, after a phone call that left her destroyed, Mom told me and Shels that dad wasn't coming back. Now, looking back on it, how she acted, I guess she found out he was dead or something. I didn't know and I still don't know who called that day. We stayed on the res till I was eight; Shels had just turned thirteen when we left. Something happened, something came in the mail, Mom flipped—it was like Dad all over again—and a few weeks later, the house was up for sale and we were moving to Seattle to live with an aunt or someone I had never heard of before.

It occurred to me, in that tiny shower with the daisy shower curtain, just how much I didn't know about my family. Things were always being kept from me, even Shelby did it. Before I left for California, I had to find all of these things out, I had to know. I had to prove Leah wrong. I mean, what the hell kind of family secret did we have? Did we have connections to the Mob? Run drugs? Maybe I had been adopted or something? Maybe Shelby had…who knew. But I'd know by the time we left. Because really, this was getting insane.

Turning the water off, I stepped out onto the fuzzy blue bathmat and grabbed a towel, also blue and fuzzy. With it wrapped tightly around me, I ran into my room and pulled out some clothes: a pair of denim cut-offs and a faded Pink Floyd shirt that had belonged to my ex-boyfriend…well, it was mine now. Besides, I had given it to him for his birthday, so…it was fair. Whatever. I quickly braided my hair, put on some black eyeliner and mascara, stepped into my black and white checkered Vans, slid a pair of sunglasses into my damp hair and darted back out into the hall; all in record time.

Stomping back downstairs, I grabbed my cell phone off the coffee table—where I had left it after being _escorted_ home by Leah—and peeked back into the kitchen. Shelby spotted me and arched an eyebrow at me.

"Are you going to meet up with Jake?" She asked, scraping her plate into the garbage can. I nodded and then slipped out the back door, not in the mood to talk and skipped down the four short steps that led to the small backyard. It was friggin' tiny when compared to all the trees and grass and _forest_ that surrounded us and every other house. With my cell phone still in hand, I flipped it over to check the time—a little before eleven, told you, record time—and saw that I had a new text message: it was from Addison. Addie wasn't famous for huge text messages or going into great detail; if she wanted to talk, she'd call and rant for an hour, so basically all she was asking was how things were going so far. And of course, there was no service in the middle of nowhere, La Push to reply to her. Lovely. I felt like such a tourist as I stuck my arm—phone and all—up into the air and started going in circles, looking for a halfway decent signal.

"There's no service up here Vee, sorry." Jacob's voice nearly sent me toppling over and I clutched my phone tighter, not wanting to send it flying into the woods if I freaked out. It was the only means of communication I had with the outside world…well, until I unpacked my laptop and all. But still, I couldn't afford to lose it. Glaring over at him, I folded my arms over my chest, jutted out my hip and tried to beat down the urge to tap the toe of my shoe on the mossy ground below. Jake just laughed as he walked toward me and slung one of his huge arms over my tiny little shoulders. Well, not tiny…but I did feel kind of _mini-me _sized compared to him. He was either going to give me a heart attack or squish me; either way I was going to die before the summer ended.

"Maybe you'll get something down at the beach, where it's more open, but there's nothing up here. Didn't Leah tell you that?" He asked, looking right at me. Jesus, he was way too close. I could see just how brown his eyes really were from this angle and why the hell was he so warm? It was almost July, there was no need to feel like a walking talking furnace. But dude…it was nice. I was always cold, so to have my own little personal space heater seemed pretty nifty. Yeah, I said nifty…what of it?

"Leah didn't tell me much; she did more yelling than telling actually." I muttered, shoving my phone into my back pocket and watched Jake's face closely. He looked a little upset and maybe a smidge angry. Or was that annoyed? Either way, it wasn't happy. "Don't worry about it Jake, it was random. She was just being…well…"

"_Leah_." Seth supplied for me, appearing out of nowhere. I just stared for a second, eyebrows arched as high as I could get them as I watched him come over to us; where the hell had he come from? Forget the end of the end of the summer, if they kept this up, I'd be dead by sundown. Keep scaring me like that, God help me. "She was just being Leah, that's all. And before you ask, we were coming to get you, but Jake got here first. What did she say to you, anyways?"

"Nothing Seth, it's fine. It's over. Don't worry. But she did say something about you guys inviting me to the beach. I'm in, by the way, so what are you guys up to?" That got the whole Leah thing dropped like _that_ and before I knew it, Seth was off, chattering about whatever was going on down at the beach and leading the way, while me and Jake brought up the rear. He still had his arm draped around me and normally, I would've pushed it off, but it was nice. Comfortable even. Like it belonged there. Hmmm…Personal Space Heater.

What? Don't look at me like that, I don't like being cold. Bite me, all right. Whatever…god.

"So what exactly did you and Leah fight about?" Jake was like a Pitbull with a chew toy, showed no signs of dropping this…what so ever. Awesome.

"Nothing Jake, it was stupid girl stuff. Leave it alone, she'll get over it." I said, pushing a strand of hair I had missed back behind my ear. "I already am, so relax." But I had a feeling he wasn't going to. What was with the guys around here? Too stubborn to listen? I was already missing my guy-friends back home; at least Dylan and Cody listened and even took my opinion into consideration. But here? Whoosh! Right over their heads! Why listen to me? Ugh…boys.

"I'll talk to her, see what was wrong. She shouldn't have done that."

"Jacob, no." I snapped, planting my feet firmly into the ground and slipped out from under his arm. Ahead of us, Seth stopped too and turned, watching the both of us. "Leah yelled at me, yes, we did fight, but I yelled too. We do that from time to time, it's a girl thing. It's over and done with, just drop it. Didn't you hear what Seth said? She was just being _Leah_ and it makes perfect sense, so knock it off. It's over. Done with. Forgotten already." I growled, keeping my fists ball at my side before I really let go and flew into Jake; that would be bad, wouldn't it? Yes, very. Shaking my head, I didn't wait for him to say anything, instead I just took a deep breath and brushed past him. I shouldered past Seth and marched forward; I'd get to the beach one way or another.

I got down to the beach a few minutes later, Seth and Jake showed up right behind me, making it look so damn easy. You try walking through those freakin' woods when you only half remember where you're going. I nearly killed myself a few times by almost tripping over a root or two. But I wasn't dead and that was a plus. Anyways, the second the three of us were spotted, because apparently there was a mini-pre-party or whatever going on down here, the yelling started, everything from 'hi' to '…about time!' And would you look at that, everyone was here: Sam, Jared, Paul, Quil, Embry, Collin, Brady and Leah…who was standing off toward the shore, away from everyone. I shook my head, when was this vacation going to get good?

"Where are the girls?" I asked Seth, who appeared on my right…out of nowhere, might I add, as the dirt and grass under my sneakers gave way to damp sand. It was pretty easy to see who was missing; Emily, Kim and Rachel.

"They're going to Port Angeles for the day; Rachel's talking Shelby into going as we speak." Good luck with that, I thought, Shels had to unpack, arrange everything to her liking and then maybe, she'd loosen up some…maybe. But maybe Rachel had some super power that I didn't and could get Shels to go with them. Who knew anymore, really? Before I could say anything about it to Seth and I mean _anything_, I was scooped up and spun around like a rag doll.

I laughed hard enough to bring tears to my eyes and quickly looped my arms tight around Embry's neck, burying my face in his shoulder…the less blurring of the beach and all that, the better. I didn't need to puke on him. I had forgotten how much I loved Embry, and Quil and Jake for that matter. The three of them when I was growing up had been my best friends, we had been inseparable, like the Three Musketeers…plus one, of course. When the spinning stopped, which I was so thankful for, I didn't let go right away, just stood there trying to get my brain to stop going in circles and squeezed Em a little harder.

"And you were worried I had forgotten all about you." I muttered, clucking my tongue and shaking my head. Embry pressed his nose to my hair and laughed. This part of being back in La Push wasn't too bad; Em and Quil had nothing on Dylan or Cody.

"Well, you were gone for a long time Vee, I was worried." He said as I patted him on the chest, pushing myself away and took a still-somewhat-dizzy back, swaying slightly but righted myself before anyone caught on. Looking over his shoulder, I saw Sam rolling his eyes and rolled mine right back; again not in the mood to fight. With Paul and Jared down by him, that left Em, Quil, Seth and Jake with me. Colin and Brady were talking amongst themselves further down and completely ignored the rest of us.

"So…" I asked, pushing some of my wayward bangs out of my eyes, "…what are you guys up to down here?"

"Big bonfire tonight, we're just getting everything ready right now." Quil said, hitching his thumb over his shoulder. "Firewood and all that crap."

"You can help." Seth chirped, squeezing my elbow before taking off with Em and Quil to find more supplies. Watching the three of them head down the beach, I didn't see Jake move out of the corner of my eye; for such big guys they had amazing super secret ninja skills, you couldn't hear them move. His hand slid into mine and laced our fingers together.

Interesting. But I let it slide and even gave him half of a smile.

"Sorry about before…the whole you and Leah fight thing…" He was kind of cute when he was awkward and all twitchy and trying to apologize. Something inside me, something that was most likely girly and pink, clenched a little and I think even giggled. Jesus…I was starting to lose it.

"Don't worry about it; me and Leah are going to fight, hate each other and then, an hour later, it'll be like nothing ever happened. Don't worry." I said shrugging and then tugged at his hand. "Lets go help the guys, I haven't been to a bonfire in forever." He nodded and we were off. Fight over, bonfire to get ready for, awesome. Now all I had to do was work things out with Leah. What I had told Jake was easier said than done.

Throughout the course of the day, I bounced between helping out and playing around; we brought around the wood for the fire, Jared and Paul unloaded two small grills for later on, parents swung by with coolers and shopping bags of food and somehow, in between all of that, I wound up tossed into the water, which wasn't as fun at eighteen as it was at eight. Leah saw it all happen, how Quil and Jake basically ganged up on me and tossed me into the waves, she broke out half of a smile…that was an improvement. As long as she wasn't that pissed anymore, that was all that mattered. Good. She was laughing at my expense, but laughing was better than that Sam-Only-Death-Glare. I considered it a small victory.

Before I knew it, it was a little after four in the afternoon; the unofficial invitation for the bonfire said the whole _shindig_ started at five. Where the hell had the day gone? Blowing my bangs out of my eyes, I plopped down onto the sand and stretched out. The guys were still moving things around and screwing around, but I was done. Done, just done. Folding my arms behind my head, I tipped my chin up toward the sky and closed my eyes. Just for a few minutes.

"It's nice having you back, ya know." Leah said from somewhere above me. Never a moments peace in La Push.

"Is this your way of apologizing?" I asked, not even bothering to open my eyes. I didn't even know why I asked, but hey…why not. Besides, I knew that was what she was doing; this was by no means our first fight.

"Do you even have to ask me that?" She asked, trying to keep her tone even. I wasn't trying to provoke her or get a rise out of her; please, that was like poking a sleeping bear. I valued my life, thank you very much.

"Yeah, for old time's sake." Finally, I opened my eyes and caught her staring down at me, like I was some kind of idiot. Oh, we were good now. "I want to go get changed, my clothes are still wet and I'm sure Shelby and all of them are gonna need help bringing their crap to the beach, so lets go." I said, pitching forward and then surged to my feet.

"Is that your way of telling me you want me to come with you?"

"Yeah, get up." See, now if Jake had been around, I could've shown him that everything was all good between us. As the two of us headed back for the tree line, I watched Jake and Seth disappear through some of the trees. "Where are they going?" I asked Leah, nodding toward where the two of them had just been. Damn them and their sneaky ninja powers, how had they gotten ahead of us so fast?

"Dunno." She said shrugging as we started up the hill and the path back toward most of our houses. A pricker bush scraped across my bare leg, I wasn't watching where I was going, instead I was staring at Leah. "They're probably just going to get something." There was that out of the loop feeling again; the Blacks didn't live down there, in whatever direction those two were heading, and neither did the Clearwaters. Dammit.

We didn't talk much on the way back to my place, but I had snuck in that I wanted to see Sue before heading back for the beach…just for my own personal snooping and to fulfill my not so super spy skills. I needed to know what the hell was going on up here. It was getting out of hand. As we got back to the house, just as I was about to go up the porch steps, I swore I heard something echoing through the trees.

It sounded a lot like a wolf howling somewhere out there.

Awesome.


	5. Answers? You Want Answers

**I know, I know...I suck. Don't throw things at me. Please. I come bearing gifts! Look, new chapter. Yes, I suck, but so does college, finals and final portfolios suck, presentations in front of your entire class really suck especially when you hate public speaking. But college is basically over, so I'm finally free again. *happy dance* Anyways, here is the long awaited Chapter Five. I'm so very sorry that I've kept you all waiting for so long, but I promise, it'll change now. No worries. I really like this one and I hope you guys do too! Let me know, you know what to do! Read and review!! xox S**_

* * *

_

_And if you go chasing rabbits_  
_And you know you're going to fall_  
_Tell them a hookah smoking caterpillar has given you the call_  
_Call Alice_  
_When she was just small._

_**Go Ask Alice – **_**Jefferson Airplane**

* * *

**Chapter Five – Answers? You Want Answers?**

On Monday afternoon, with the weekend and the bonfire blessedly behind us—I was still in no mood to talk about the latter and what happened down at First Beach, so no further questions Shelby—I found myself in Forks. Yes Forks, where just like the Res, noting had changed in the past almost-decade I had been gone. Everything was exactly the same as it was when I last saw it; I even managed to grab the same table at the diner, the same old table that had once been mine, Shelby's and our parents' regular table that we ate at almost every Sunday night. Apparently, the menu hadn't changed either, but there were a few new additions to the wait-staff. Take my waitress for example, she looked like she was about my age or so, give or take, with brown hair, eyes to match and a look on her face that told me a few things: one, _I hate this job_ and two, _I need the cash _and three, _thank god it's only for the summer. _I knew that feeling, so I could sympathize with Jessica…that's what her nametag said at least.

"Are you ready to order?" Jessica asked, putting my drink down next to me. I wasn't ready to order, hell I wasn't even hungry, but I did have a few questions I needed answered. She looked Forks-enough to have them; the kind of girl who would be able to tell me what I needed to know and then some, maybe some gossip and fun-filled rumors.

"No, but uhm…I have a question."

"The specials are…"

"No, not about food or whatever, it's about something else." What I needed to know was about the new mini-branch of my overall huge mission for the summer. It fit right in with _Operation: WTF with All the Lies/Secrets? _

"Umh…okay?"

"Did you know Bella Swan?" The girl's eyes clouded over with something, some kind of funny familiar recognition and I knew I picked the right person. Good. Jessica looked over her shoulder, like she was looking for her boss or whoever could get her in trouble, and then sat down in the empty chair across from me.

"I knew her; I went to high school with her, so what? Why? And who are you anyways?"

"Violet Archer, I used to live up in La Push, my sister dragged me back here for the summer and I'm curious. I knew Bella when we were kids, so what happened? My friend's sister said she took off after graduation." Okay, so those weren't Rachel's exact words to Shelby, but Jessica didn't need to know that. She looked over her shoulder again, checking for whoever she it was looking for before and then glanced at all five of the other customers in the diner.

"All right, since we're slow and no one's really around, I'll tell you. But I'm only giving you fifteen minutes, I'm not about to get fired all because someone's asking about Bella, got it?"

"Gotcha, fifteen minutes is perfect."

* * *

_Saturday Night, First Beach_

"So, do you guys tell everyone those scary stories, or do you just use them to impress all the girls?" I asked, as me and Jake walked along the shoreline together. Cool dark water lapped up over my bare feet—I had toed off my Vans back by the bonfire and left them with Shelby when Jake dragged me along with him—and I danced and skipped my way over the shells and rocks that peppered the sand. I should've grabbed my shoes, but oh well.

"Are you impressed?" Jake asked, from somewhere next to me and I could hear the laugh in his voice.

"Nope." I muttered, crouching down and pulling a good-sized shell out of the sand. Using the light from my cell phone, I cleaned the dirt and sand out from inside it, took a quick look at it and then shoved it in my back pocket before standing back up; Jake was looking down at me as if I had grown three heads. "…but I've heard all the stories before, so who knows. Maybe I was impressed once upon a time or something."

"Then we just tell 'em to tell 'em…if you're not impressed or whatever."

"Shut up, jerk." I mumbled, trying to keep from laughing, as I walked further ahead of Jake. "I bet you just really tell them to show off, bring Billy down here and all, make it this big special deal for me and Shels."

"Of course, we did it just for you Princess." Jacob said, catching up to me and then bumping me with his hip. I bet if he had tried harder, he would've sent me flying. "C'mon, I'll race ya down the beach, to that big rock we used to play on when we were kids." Squinting into the darkness, with a little help from the moon above and the firelight behind us, I could make out that rock, but it didn't look that big anymore and it had nothing to do with how far away from it were really were. It was one of those odd moments, where you realize that you're not a little kid anymore and that big huge rock you used to play on isn't really a mountain. Some strange feeling flooded through me, I couldn't put my finger on it but it left a cold spot in my chest. Shaking my head, as if I was trying to shake that chill away, I blew the hair out of my eyes and toyed with the silver stars and bells dangling from my charm bracelet.

"No way, I am not running down there in the dark." I had been a swimmer and a tennis player in high school, not a track star. "I'm not doing it."

"So what? You're a chicken then? Afraid I'm going to beat you or…" Before Jake could even finish that sentence, I was off like a shot. I was not a chicken and I wasn't afraid he was going to beat me, hell I knew he would, but I'd be damned if I ever let Jacob Black, the same kid who used to dangle the worms from Billy's tackle box in my face and scare the crap out of me with them, call me a chicken.

My bare feet smacked against the damp sand as I ran, my hair whipping around my head and pushed myself to go faster. I knew Jake was behind me, I could hear his sneakers, but I ran faster. If he beat me, he beat me, but if I won? Dude, that would be awesome. I ran as fast as I could, hopefully I could pull this one off.

I made it to my former mountain of a rock before Jake did and practically flopped against it, trying to catch my breath and keep my chest from heaving me right off the damn thing. Jake showed up a minute later, with a stupid looking grin on his face.

"You let me win." I wheezed, still trying to catch my breath, meanwhile Jake didn't even break a sweat.

"Of course I did, you were a sore loser as a kid, I didn't want to take any chances. You might throw a Tonka truck at me or something."

"It was a fire truck, not a Tonka truck. Get your facts straight." I said, my heart still banging against my ribs. Taking a deep breath, I pried myself off the side of the once huge rock—it was still big, but nowhere near as big as it used to be like it was when I was six—and hefted myself up, perched on the damp craggy edge of the former fairytale mountain. My bare legs dangled down, only a foot off the ground and I stared out at the water lapping up on the shore. "You remember all those stupid things we did as kids?" I asked, watching Jake scale his way up next to me, crossing the space between us in only a few long, fluid strides.

"Yeah, I do. Am I not supposed to?" He asked, sitting down next to me and even in the darkness, I could see that he was grinning at me.

"I didn't say that, I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Surprised?" Jake echoed, cocking his head in my direction.

"That's what I said; I didn't expect you to remember all that. Even though, it was clearly a red fire truck I threw at you." I said, laughing, toying with my bracelet. "So, did you guys tell Bella all those stories too?" Next to me, Jake stiffened and I could feel his eyes on me.

"What?"

"You heard me, did you tell them to Bella too?"

"Why do you keep asking about her?" Jake growled, getting back up to his feet and staring down at me. I had never felt so small in my life. "Is there a reason why you keep bringing her up?"

"I asked a question and I don't keep bringing her up Jake, I've said her name three times since I've been here. And for your information, she used to be my friend too."

"Stop asking."

"Why? I'm just curious, no one talks about her and all I did was ask a simple question. Is what Rachel said true? Were you…are you…in love with her?" I asked, pulling my legs toward my chest so I could stand up. Even without the darkness, I could've seen the glare Jake was throwing at me from ten miles away. Talk about if looks could kill. "Jake, I'm just…just…talking to myself."

Somewhere within the second it took for me to get to my feet and blink, Jake must've jumped down onto the beach. He was gone. Poof! Gone! There one second and not the next. How the hell had he gotten down and away from me so quick? Tucking a strand of hair back behind my ear, I sighed, scrubbed a hand across my face and then hopped back down. What was the point of standing there if I was going to look like some kind of idiot in the dark? My bare feet sunk into the damp sand below as I started back toward the bonfire; I could always ask Quil and Embry if they had seen Jacob.

No one told me I wouldn't see him for the rest of the night…or weekend for that matter.

* * *

_Present, La Push_

Back up on the Reservation, Shelby stood in Sam and Emily's kitchen with a cool glass of water in her hand and stared out the window over the sink. Violet had taken off earlier that morning, long before she had come downstairs to start breakfast and had found note on the table covered in her younger sister's familiar scrawl. The note said something about spending the day down in Forks and that she was bumming a ride from one of the guys, most likely Embry. She knew Vee would be back eventually, but that didn't stop her from going into older-sister mode, at least that was what Violet called it. Shelby had every right to worry about her, it was her job after all. And after hearing from Sam, who heard from one of the boys, about the little argument Violet and Jake got into at the bonfire, she worried even more.

"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders." Emily said, coming up alongside Shelby and placing a comforting hand on her elbow. "What's bothering you? Violet?"

"I'm her older sister Em and being back here only just made me realize that I've been lying to her for years. I should've told her the truth, a very long time ago."

"You protected her, it's what older sisters do; it's what the Pack does."

"I should've just told her everything." Shelby said softly, her eyes finding some sort of movement in the tree line: it was Sam and Paul. "Think they found anything?"

"Shels, it's not like Violet ran away, she probably caught a ride into Forks with Embry or Quil; I heard them talking about going to that sporting goods store down there anyways. She's fine, those two wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"And if they Phase in front of her? Then what? Then what am I supposed to do?" Shelby knew the boys had more control than that, that they'd never do anything like that in front of Violet, without Violet knowing the truth that is, but it was just one of the many things that constantly ran through her mind since coming back to La Push.

"We will explain it to her, all of us, we'll sit her down and explain. She'll be fine Shelby, this is just apart of who she is. Especially now since Jacob imprinted on her." Emily said, taking the glass of water from Shelby and placed it on the counter top. Sam had confirmed all their suspicions after the bonfire; now it was practically written all over Jake's face how he felt about Vee.

"Maybe coming back to La Push was a bad idea, maybe I should've listened to Violet back in May."

"No, it was a good idea, the best idea; this is the best thing for her, for you, for the two of you." Emily told her, taking her friend's hands in her own and squeezed them tightly. "Shels, everything will be fine, don't…"

"…Worry?! I always worry! I have to! Someone has to worry about Violet! It's all I've done since Robin died! It's my job!" Shelby cried, her deep brown eyes sparkling with tears. Quickly, Emily pulled her flush against her chest and wrapped her arms around her heaving back.

"Shelby, stop. You don't always have to worry, she's here now, with us, we'll help. We always said we would, Sam and I promised you that a lot time ago. And honey, you need to let everything with Robin go; it's not your fault she died, you know better than that; it was the cancer. Your mother was a brave woman, one of the strongest I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And you've done nothing wrong with Violet, she's perfect. You did nothing wrong, you protected her, just like you promised Robin you would. And you'll tell her everything she needs to know in time, just give her some more time." Emily said, stroking Shelby's hair.

Letting the words sink in, Shelby sighed against Emily's shoulder and held on tighter, she was right of course, she always was.

"You're right and I know you're right, but…."

"If Emily's right, then that's all there is to it." Sam said, interrupting Shelby as he and Paul walked in from outside. Immediately, Sam was at Emily's side, kissing her hello and smiled over at his younger cousin. Paul hung back a bit, giving both girls half of a quick grin.

"Did you find out where Violet went?" Shelby asked, dabbing at her still damp eyes.

"Embry took her into Forks, but he came back an hour ago; he said she told him she'd find her own way home." Sam told her, draping an arm around Emily's shoulders.

"Can one of you go…"

"I'll go get her." Paul said, out of nowhere. Sam arched an eyebrow at him while Emily tried to smother a soft smile. "What? Rachel loves her like another sister, she'd be pissed if I didn't do anything."

"Just don't lose your temper." Sam warned as Paul walked back out to his truck, muttering along the way. "Everything will be fine Shels, you have nothing to worry about."

* * *

_Present, Forks_

Swinging my navy blue canvas messenger bag over my shoulders, I tugged my sunglasses out of my hair and ran through the crosswalk just outside the diner. Jessica Stanley had been quite helpful. At least, I hoped she had been helpful. From what I got out of her, Bella had moved back to Forks in the middle of Jessica's junior year to live with her dad for some reason, met this Edward guy, fell ass over elbows for him, married him right out high school and then the two of them and his family just packed up and moved away. Well, that was the whole story basically stripped down to its barest bones, I wasn't much for details. But her marrying this Edward guy must've had something to do with Jake's crappy attitude whenever I brought up her name. So, I could at least say I was getting somewhere.

Rushing across the street, I skipped up onto the opposite sidewalk and started pounding pavement. Jessica had said something about this Mike Newton guy who worked at his dad's sporting good store, said he had a crush on Bella back in high school and I wanted to ask him a few questions too, see if he knew more than my ever helpful waitress. Newton's' Sporting Goods wasn't too far from the diner and was also where Quil and Embry had gone after they dropped me off at the diner, so I had a pretty good idea of where I was going. Not that Forks was some kind of megalopolis or something like that. I was just about to turn the corner, Newton's right in my sight, when a corn horn blared behind me and sent me jumping in the air a good three feet, at the very least. Turning around to glare at whoever this asshat was, I found myself staring at a familiar beat up green pick-up.

It was Paul. That was a new one.

I watched, with one eyebrow raised, as the Res' resident hot-head rolled down the passenger's side window and smirked at me.

"Is that how you pick up girls or something? Honk the horn and scare the bejesus out of them? Because if that's how you got Rachel, I'm going to have to talk to her."

"Nah, it's just how I pick up bratty eighteen year olds with attitude problems." He said, pulling the truck up alongside the curb and once it was in park, reached over to pop open the passenger's side door. "Hop in Kid."

"Bite me." I snapped, tugging my bag's strap back up to where it belonged on my arm. Paul gave me this huge wolfish grin and for a second, I honestly thought he was going to jump out of that beat up old clunker and take a pound of flesh out of me.

"Sam would kill me, get in." His eyes flashed with something, I wasn't sure if it was mischief or what, but honestly I didn't want to find out. Knowing Paul, it probably wasn't a good thing to know anyways. "C'mon Violet, I don't have all day."

"Neither do I, you're interrupting my plans too ya know." I told him, folding my arms over my chest.

"Get in the car. Now Violet." Paul said through clenched teeth. The grip he had on the steering wheel turned to something close to white-knuckling it and he looked two shakes away from ripping me a new one. That was the Paul I knew. Rolling my eyes, I tossed my bag onto the truck's cracked vinyl bench seat and hopped in.

"I'm not doing this, going home with you, for Sam or Shels or whoever made you come get me. I'm doing this for my own safety, you looked like you were about to tear my arms out of their sockets."

"But you got in the car, so I don't have to do that, now do I?" He gave me that stupid grin again as he pulled the truck away from the sidewalk and made a wide turn right in the middle of Forks' main drag, turning around so we could head back up the Res. Sighing, I dropped my head against the window and watched Forks disappear behind us, along with all the plans I had for the rest of the afternoon.

"Cheer up Kid, it could be worse. Sam could've come down himself." I resisted the urge to flip him off and continued to stare at everything and nothing that passed us by. Paul didn't talk for the rest of the trip back, instead he fiddled with the radio and spun the dial to some station that was more static and interference than music and drummed his thumbs idly on the steering wheel's horn, keeping beat to whatever noise was coming from the speakers. Despite being a total jackass back in town, he was nice to drive with, he didn't seem the type to talk much in the car, he was my kinda guy. I hated when Shelby tried to make small talk whenever we drove somewhere, it was nauseating. Paul on the other hand, he was top notch.

We got back to the Res a few minutes later, of course it was just around the same time my mind finally started to drift off and back toward all those warm and fuzzy thoughts that were all about Seattle, just my luck. Picking my head up and clearing the fog from my eyes, I looked out the window and stared at Billy Black's warm and welcoming front porch.

"What the hell?" I asked, whipping around so fast to face Paul that the ends of my hair caught me in the mouth.

"Look, Shels is worried about you and wants me to bring you straight home, but honestly, I think you should go clear up whatever happened between you and Jake first." I gave him a look, how the hell did he know about that? "There aren't many secrets between us up here Vi, so just go talk to him. And I'll tell Shels it was all my idea, so no harm, no foul. All right Kid?"

I had never hated anyone so much in one single moment before in my life, but I nodded anyways and opened the door, sliding out onto the well packed earth that made up the Black's front yard. Paul winked at me through the window as he honked the horn twice, breaking the silence, before peeling out of the driveway. With his truck out of the way, I could see all the way up the driveway and stared right at the garage, the very same garage where Jacob did all his tinkering on his cars. I saw the curtain hanging in the front window twitch, it was Billy, looking to see who was out here and then heard the garage's side door bang open.

"What are you doing here?" Jacob shouted down the driveway, his huge arms crossed over his broad chest. Chewing on my bottom lip, I ran my fingers through my hair before I started walking, I wasn't going to have a shouting match with him when I was standing on the other end of his property. I'd much rather do it face to face, and even shout in his face. And what a stupid face it was, I thought as I finally stood in front of him. A perfectly stupid face that I found myself staring at more and more.

"Well?" Jake snapped again, this time staring down at me.

"Paul dropped me off, said I should talk to you." Jacob rolled his eyes at me, before dropping his arms to his side and sighing. He turned on his heel and headed back toward the garage, leaving me standing there like a moron. "We are so going to talk Jacob Black!" Once again, he had me talking to myself, just this time I watched him walk away from me.

The two of them, Jake and Paul, really hadn't left me with many choices. I sighed again and then, like a good little puppy dog, I followed hot on Jake's tail and managed to slip into the garage before he even got the chance to shut me out. Again.


End file.
